A year ago, we predicted that the number of green consumers would stay constant in 2024, despite climate chaos and backlash. Despite evidence of accelerated weather-related disasters and a desire among many consumers to act sustainably, we predicted that inflation and the cost of living would heavily influence buying decisions.

As Forrester Chief Research Officer Sharyn Leaver summarized in her recent review of our 2024 predictions, new Forrester data bears this out, showing that the share of “Active Green” consumers — those who pay close attention to companies’ impact on the environment and overwhelmingly choose eco-friendly items over low-cost or convenient ones — has held close to steady (it’s down 1–2 percentage points in the markets we surveyed).

Though Active Greens are a relatively small segment — fewer than one in five consumers fall into this category — our advice to companies is to recognize the cognitive dissonance that many feel when making purchases. Now is the time to innovate to deliver more environmental value for the same price, particularly as environmentally conscious younger consumers gain buying power.

The reality, however, is that there is no single green or sustainable consumer. Values and attitudes vary greatly within the same age group or across different countries. It is critical to base your strategy on nuanced facts and to segment your customer base into distinct groups. That’s why my colleague Sucharita Kodali and I have just updated Forrester’s green segmentation, leveraging data from Forrester’s Consumer Benchmark Survey, 2024. We have mapped online adults in Australia, the US, and the Europe-5 markets to four segments that display various levels of affinity for environmental sustainability. Forrester grouped consumers into four segments according to their answers to three questions:

  1. Do they regularly seek out information before buying green products and to understand what they can do to be green?
  2. Do they actually purchase green products even when it is less convenient to do so?
  3. Do they see the environment as a secondary factor after price or convenience in their purchasing decision process?

The result? Consumers are evolving into four distinct groups as they realize that their consumption habits affect both the environment and their daily lives:

  • Active Greens are environmentally conscious consumers. These consumers actively pay attention to companies’ impact on the environment, are concerned about the impact of climate change on society, and overwhelmingly choose eco-friendly items over low-cost or convenient items. They regularly purchase natural and organic products and are disappointed if product packaging isn’t recyclable or compostable. They feel hopeful, moral, and confident when they act in an environmentally responsible way. On average, Active Greens represent 19% of the European online population.
  • Convenient Greens value convenience over the environment. Among US Convenient Greens, 75% would like to understand more about how their purchases impact the environment, but 54% say that reducing their environmental impact is too much work. They want to do what’s best for the planet, but convenience and cost are most important.
  • For Dormant Greens, the environment isn’t an important purchase criterion. They tend to most value price and convenience in their purchases. That said, about one-quarter in Europe-5 (26%) and the US (24%) would like to understand more about how their purchases impact the environment.
  • Non-Greens don’t consider themselves environmentally conscious. The share of Non-Greens is higher in the US (23%) and Australia (24%) than in Europe-5 (16%). Compared to other segments, Non-Greens value low-cost and convenient products the most — and they are the least concerned about the impact of climate change on society.

Clients who want to better understand consumers’ green behaviors and attitudes can read Forrester’s Green Consumer Segmentation For 2025 report and schedule a conversation with me to go into the details of what it means for them for their particular industry or country.